LEE’S SUMMIT — Nixa didn’t fade into the oblivion of the Kansas City confines like Eagles teams from the past, even though seemingly everyone on both sides knew ‘fade’ would be the play-call that made legends of Adam McKnight and Wyatt Vincent.
Running a fade route through the middle of the Lee’s Summit North secondary, Vincent made the biggest catch of his life. His 19-yard touchdown reception from McKnight with :10.4 remaining lifted Nixa to an epic 21-20 Class 6 Quartefinal triumph Friday.
“I knew it was coming my way,” Vincent said. “On the sideline, (the coaches) said to Adam, 'The fade is going to be wide open, throw it.’ Because of how (the Broncos’ defense) lined up, with that formation the 'backer had outside leverage on me. That gave me a clear path right down the middle.”
Even Lee’s Summit North’s defenders suspected Nixa would go to Vincent on a fade.
“On defense, they were all calling it, 'Zero fade (referring to Vincent’s number),’” Vincent said.
Vincent brought down the pass just inside the back of the end zone, gaining a hold of the pigskin even as a Broncos defender grazed the ball with a finger.
“I kind of just dialed in on the ball, that's all I saw,” Vincent said. “I had to go up and get it. I had to do my job. I went up and hoped (the defender) wouldn't get a hand on it. I saw it right into my hands and came down with it. He was right there. He tipped (it). But I came down with it.”
Vincent’s heroics came after he had been relatively quiet. Earlier, he rose to No. 2 among Nixa’s all-time receiving yards leaders, but had just one previous reception on the night and was coming off a one-catch game against Joplin last week.
“I can believe it happened,” Vincent said with an emphasis on can. “I trusted the process. In games I wasn't getting the ball, I never complained. I stayed focused and knew my time was going to come. Here it came and I was ready for it.
“Coaches trusted me, Adam trusted me and I trusted myself,” he added. “The biggest thing that mattered was we all trusted each other.”
As McKnight stood in the pocket prior to the touchdown pass, he never took his eyes off of Vincent.
"I knew who I was going to,” McKnight said. “That safety left him and I was like, 'Jump ball.' I put it right where Wyatt could get it and he went up and got it like a champ.”
McKnight, too, responded like the winner he is. He shook off a third-quarter interception and a wild overthrow on fourth down that ended Nixa’s previous offensive series with just 4:40 remaining in the game.
“Next play. Coach Perry always says, 'Park it.’ We park it and we move on,” McKnight said of his resilience. “I needed to step up for my team. Our defense stepped up for me the entire game. They got countless stops when we needed them the most. That's about the pure brotherhood we've built since the beginning of the summer.”
“Every quarterback makes a bad throw. When he slips up and makes a bad throw, you can't hold it against him,” Vincent said of McKnight. “He’s out here doing what he can. They're rushing and getting through our line sometimes. He's doing what he can just to get the pass off. He also came through tonight with three or four big scrambles when he couldn't get the pass off. He showed his versatility as a quarterback.”
McKnight, who had a pair of seven-yard touchdown runs in the first half, engineered a 79-yard drive over the final 2:04.
“We all knew what we were doing every single play. It was almost scripted,” Vincent said of the Eagles’ two-minute offense. “We knew what was coming next. We were very focused. We were like, ‘We've got this in the bag.’”
McKnight relied heavily on scrambles on the winning drive, showing his elite explosiveness. A 31-yard McKnight run advanced the ball to the Lee’s Summit North 19 with :21 remaining.
With a first down, the clock stopped at the :21 mark. But even with the chain gang still running down the sideline, the clock started and wasn’t stopped by officials until only :15 were showing.
Nixa never got back to the :06 it lost, but of course got six points.
Nixa’s offense had been shut out the first 23-plus minutes of the second half and add the final seven minutes of the second quarter to the Eagles’ scoring drought.
Lee’s Summit North held its own and then some at the line of scrimmage. The Broncos’ defensive line was strong and quick, gaining penetration into Nixa’s offensive backfield like no one had this season.
“They really don't have a weak spot on their D-line,” left tackle Jackson Cantwell said. "Their linebackers are pretty good. They have a lot of skilled guys up front. I don't think we'll see a D-line better than that. It was a great test.”
“They were a great team. Great defense and great offense. But we didn't quit,” McKnight said. “Our offensive line saw some adversity, just like I did. But they responded well.”
Place-kicker Braden Kahmke supplied the winning point by booting his extra-point attempt. Kahmke has made 20 of his last 21 PATs.
"Thank God we made the extra point," Cantwell said.
Nixa lost to Lee’s Summit North in a District final in 2022 and was ousted by Rockhurst in Quarters last year and by Ray-Pec in Quarters in 2020.
But the Eagles knocked down the ‘KC Barrier’ to make the Final Four for the first time in the Class 6 level.
Referencing the Nixa basketball team’s loss to Christian Brothers College in the Class 6 2022 state championship game, Cantwell had heard talk the Eagles were no match for St. Louis schools, either.
“This game shows Nixa is an actual contender,” Cantwell said. “The biggest focus this week was to change the narrative. We knew what the narrative was, 'Nixa couldn't win in the Kansas City metro area and couldn't get it done in the St. Louis metro area. We couldn't get it done against the bigger schools.’ We had to change that narrative tonight. We knew we had to break that barrier at some point.”
The McKnight-to-Vincent TD obviously won’t ever be forgotten in Nixa’s annals.
“That's Nixa's biggest win,” McKnight said. “It feels like a movie.”
Vincent embraces the likelihood his numerous baseball exploits will be overshadowed by Eagles fans. He’ll forever be known as the receiver who made the catch in 2024 that sent Nixa to the Class 6 Final Four.
“That's okay,” he said. “I kind of like that reputation.”
